


Trial and Errors

by Arrow99104



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren (Comics), pre- Star wars: the Force Awakens
Genre: Fighting, Killing, No Major Character Death, character-building, world-building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:26:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23320159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arrow99104/pseuds/Arrow99104
Summary: The Knights of Ren have always been shrouded in mystery, why not take a look at how it used to be before the Kylo Ren became the leader.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take about the Knights of Ren, I know there is a comic going on I'm going to try to stick with the comic but with my owns twist on things. Its going to take place before the comic and Force Awakens and go with the timeline of the last three movies. Now I'm doing this on my own free time and might not be updated regularly, I do have another story I'm working on. Characters, of course, will be very Oc since there isn't much to go on but I'll do my best. Thank you very much for reading.

He was accustomed to this, having to wake during the night cycle to speak with Snoke, he let out a yawn as he made his way to the audience chamber. He wonders what the old man really wants, it's been a while since he last spoke with him, it better be important being woken up at this hour after coming back from a mission. When he entered the chamber, he wasn’t shocked to see Snoke’s holo already up, usually Ren needs to kneel or bow for Snoke to appear but not in this care. Also Ren will never understand why he makes his holo so big, there is no reason for him to loom over everyone. It makes no sense.

He took his place right in front of Snoke and bowed, Snoke looked like he was contemplating something as if he was searching for something, perhaps in the Shadow. That did peak his interest and waited for him to be acknowledged. Snoke shifted in his seat and looked down at him, he had to admit, it wasn’t pleasant looking at the other Shadow user. 

“Ah Lord Ren, there has been a powerful shift in the Force for a split second, it was too quick for me to fully get a precise location however it is somewhere near the core planets.” Ren nodded, he did not feel the shift, perhaps it was because he was asleep however if Snoke felt it then it must be important. “I want you to investigate this, I will need all of your knights to go to these core planets and investigate. It is possible, this Shadow user is untrained.”

An untrained user, if they were to find them it would mean another knight into the fold, Ren smiled. “Very well, we shall go immediately at your command, I will command my knights to seperate to cover more ground and search for intel and clues.” Snoke nodded, pleased by the plan Ren created and dismissed him as the holo blinked out. Ren stood, no longer tired, and left the chamber in a hurry, he couldn’t help but smile. Since the fall of the Empire, more and more Shadow-users have been popping up. However a Jedi took up the role of Grandmaster and rebuilt the old Order again and so more users have gone to become Jedi. 

During the time, he only had a handful of some who wanted to become a part of his knights however only two made it to the end. They need to find this user before the Jedi finds them, usually an untrained one is a young one. 

Upon entering his room, Lord Ren grabbed his pack and Ren, he could feel his knights rousing from their sleep and also preparing. _:Meet me in the hanger, Arne; prepare the Buzzard.:_ He said into this comm, to the others and received sleepy confirmation from them.

As he exits his room, his second in command; Ion Ren, was waiting for him. He did not speak to her and kept walking, she did not miss a beat and walked at a pace behind him. Entering the hanger, all of them were present and the Buzzard was warming up.

“We have a mission, Snoke sensed something in the Shadow, it is a possible untrained user located somewhere in the core planets. We will need to find them before that Order does, we will separate to cover more ground.” All of them nodded in acknowledgement, all of them boarding the Buzzard, it won’t take long to get to the planets however they need to go in haste.

~~~

Ren was not liking this at all, he scowled to himself as he mentally checked off another lead that led to a dead end. Ciar Ren, who was tasked to search with him, was speaking to a witness questioning for more information. Well more like interrogating/ torturing but that’s besides the point. It has been days since they began their search and only found the correct planet where the user may be located. It took some time, and now all of them are here on this planet; Tangenine. 

It was Zenaku Ren who first heard the news on this planet, apparently a group of men were found dead in a warehouse. Zenaku overheard that the death of this gang members' death were unnatural, there were no physical wounds however it would seem their chest had imploded. Immediately killing them, there was nothing that could have caused such injuries but he knew the Shadow could do that. Once he gathered enough information, he quickly contacted them and all rondevu with him. 

He knew the others thought it was going to be easy, and he did as well, however it was becoming very difficult locating this user. Somehow they were able to evade them and keep their signature hidden. Ren isn’t liking this one bit, Ren shook his head, he needs to be focused on this. Ciar was waiting to be acknowledged, he motioned for him to speak. Ren took a quick peek at Ciar handy work before walking along, someone will find the body. “They claim to have seen a figure leaving the warehouse, fleeing south, and lost sight of them. 

“He didn’t get a good look at them?” Ciar shook his head and continued reporting back nonetheless, “Lord Ren, they were heading towards the slums, and no one wants to reveal them. As if they were scared, of what I do not know, it was hard to pinpoint what it was.” Great this is just great, he is soon going to have to report back to Snoke and so far it isn’t going well. 

It was getting late and they have been doing this for how long, they haven’t rested properly so Ren sent a message to the others to meet them at a local bar. He knows the others are tired and they deserve a bit of rest and continue the search tomorrow at the slums. At least they have a fix on where they could be, they can’t hide forever.

The bar was a small place, dimly lit and quite cozy to be honest, he likes it. There were only a few other patrons and the rest of his knights have yet to arrive. There was a young woman at the bar serving others, the two of them sat at a table near the back allowing them to see the entire bar. A server noticed them and she was nervous when she came to take their orders, once they were filled Ren leaned back on his seat and relaxed. 

“So what do you think about all of this Ciar?” Ren was curious about his knight’s thoughts, he would like their opinion about all of this.

Ciar tilted their head, “whoever they are, they are good at hiding, it can benefit us, we do need more.” 

Ciar is right, there is no limit to how many they can have, but it is hard to join and then to survive the training. Ren remembers a time where there were eighteen of them, well now it's just the six of them. Should they ease on the training- no of course-now that is silly thoughts. “I know what you mean, just times are tough right now especially with those jedi now popping up again.” 

Ciar nodded, “which is why we must find them, however do you think the Jedi will allow this user to join them? They did kill people.” 

“Probably not, they will deal with them if the person is dangerous to others, meaning we might have a chance.” Ren could feel giddy about this even though they hit many dead ends, they aren’t going to stop. It didn’t take long for two others of knights arriving with one of them typing away on their datapad. 

Zenaku Ren and Ion Ren nodded at them, and sat down just as their orders were brought to them. Shortly after Pomare Ren and Arne Ren arrived, with the whole gang here, he asked for them to report whatever they found before enjoying the rest of their night. “there were five gang members dead and a child, while the gang members were killed due to their chest imploding. The child however was killed by a blaster, one of the members was found with a one in hand.” Ion said as she continued to type/ read whatever was on the padd.

“So then the user felt strong emotions when the child was killed and thus killing the gang members?” Arne asked as he took a swig from his beer, Ren could see that being a possibility, perhaps this child was close to them. The rest reported, stating mostly the same thing, the people aren’t giving them anything new. They don’t want to give any information meaning they must know who the person is. 

“This is taking longer than it should Ren.” Zenaku stated, which is true, they usually find their victim fairly quickly but this one is a tough one. Ren knows it isn’t their fault, just people aren’t being helpful and they can interrogate all of them, maybe some but still it will get frustrating.

Although it is exciting, yes frustrating and the user is showing promising power and wit to continue to hide from them. From the kitchen area he could hear two voices arguing at each other, he turned to see what was going on. Apparently a server was scowling at a young child, he watched them for a while when the child must have noticed him watching. The child turned to him and the two of them locked eyes, sure he still had his mask on but he could tell the child was staring right at him. The server also noticed and quickly pulled the child away, shielding them from his gaze, but turned away from them and back to his group. 

“We’ll focus our attention around and in the Slums and the surrounding areas. Ciar and I will go to the warehouse where it happened and see if we can find anything that was missed.” His knights nodded and from there they all decided to enjoy the rest of the night. 

The same server from early came to apologize for the ruckus, and continued to serve them throughout the night. He couldn’t help but notice that she seemed nervous about something however she got even more nervous when a group of men arrived less than an hour later. Ion, who was sitting right next him, was watching them and in return they were watching them. Well this night is getting better and better. 

~~~

He and Ciar arrived at the warehouse early morning, and were scouring the floors for anything but they came up empty so he decided to go a different route. Ren closed his eyes and started to reach out the Shadow, hopefully he could feel anything residual left behind. It didn’t take long to feel the anger, fear and hate coming from the corner, to the left of him, he started to walk over and he could feel the dark emotions getting stronger. 

Ah so whoever they were, they were trapped here in the corner, witnessing the child being killed and with all those pent up emotions, they practically exploded. The emotions took a hold and killed them, simple as that. Ciar walked over to him, “based on the witness, they ran south, the exit does lead south to the Slums.I received word from Pomare and Arne, they are already there however when they question people, they don’t want to speak to them. Similar to the others, it could mean they are in the right place.”

“That’s because the gang, these members were a part of, are also looking for the killer not to mention the police. ” Ion said as she joined them, “remember the group of men in the bar? Well they are gang members as well, someone tipped them off that we are searching too, I was able to confront them.”

Oh this should be good, “And?”

“They were cute, threatened me and all, they did say if I had any information about it, I had to tell them. I took care of them and questioned one, apparently this user is a former gang member known as a messenger.” Ion said as she showed a holo to a group of very young kids all of them looking worse for wear. 

“They take orphans off the streets and make them do errands for them, our user is this one,” Ion pointed to a young girl sitting to the child that died that night. “They don’t have the whole story but it went bad, now she is on the run from almost everyone.”

Ren stopping paying attention to Ion and Ciar as they talked about theories on where to look, how could he have been so stupid. Even though the holo was slightly grainy he knows those eyes anywhere since he saw them last night. He recalls the server being wary of him and being even more when the group came in, she must have warned the girl to leave. However he sensed nothing coming from her, she is so young how is she able to hide herself from them?

“What if they don’t want to come with us? Will we take them by force?”

Ren came out of his thoughts when he heard the question and didn’t answer, he doesn’t want to take the person by force. He would rather befriend them and see if they come on their own terms. He shook his head, however before he could say anything, their comm. went off, it was Zenaku. 

**:Lord Ren, activity at the Slums, they are heavily armed.:**

With those words, the three of them quickly made their way south, Ion was ahead. She was looking down at her pad, honing in on his location while he and Ciar were right behind her.  **:Acknowledge we are still north, we are heading your way now we will arrive in a bit, keep look out:**

Zenaku acknowledge and signed off, Ren then sent a message to Pomare who is with Arne,  **:Tell Arne to go back to the ship and we may need a quick escape, continue on to join us.:**

**:Acknowledge.:**

It didn’t take long to reach Zenaku, who was waiting for them on top of a building-overlooking a rundown building. He already has his mace out, ready for a fight, “what do you have?”

“Group of five were heading here after getting a message from another who was in this area. three of them are outside, guarding the door and the fourth joined the other inside, they found the user.” 

Ren nodded, “Ciar deal with those three, lead them towards Pomare, just get them out of the area, the two of you are with me and distract the others.”

With nothing more, they began their descent, Ciar jumped from the roof right infront of the three gang members, who weren’t ready for it. Ren didn’t linger and quickly motioned for Ion to go onto the other roof, so she could go through the roof. He and Zenaku quickly entered through the front doors and slowed down. 

The inside of this building was very run down, there were many makeshift tents clearly people have been living here. Although, there was no one in here, the people left in quite a hurry, not to get caught in the crossfire. Zenaku stopped and squatted down, so he did as well, he could feel Ion up on the rafters waiting for their signal. Ren could hear voices and peaked over a container they hid behind, he could see one of them keeping watch. The other was nowhere to be seen, perhaps they were deeper in the building. 

Ren motioned for Zenaku to deal with this one, even though he had his mask on, he could feel the bloodlust coming off his knight. With him gone, he motioned for Ion to join him and together they walked deeper in the building as the member screamed in pain. 

As they headed deeper into the building, they could now hear a voice yelling, “Little schutta, you thought you could get away huh?!” the male started to speak Twi’lek.

“Just leave me alone!”

They were about to round the final corner when Ren felt a warning and quickly stopped Ion from going further. Standing right in front of them was a Twi’lek pointing a gun at them as they turned the corner.

There standing behind him was a short figure, no not just short but the child, no more than ten years of age. The child looked angry and now scared, quite dirty really and in rags, but was holding their ground. 

“You freaks again? Get out of here if you know what’s good for you.”

He smiled, without saying anything he pulled out Ren, he couldn’t help but feel smug as he watched the Twi’lek’s face pale at the sight. The red blade casting an eerie glow to the dark warehouse, “None of your business really, though the kid is.”

The man’s face hardened and went into a battle stance, Ren has been itching for a fight, sure this isn’t going to be a lengthy fight but it still is one. 

The Twi’lek looked hesitant to fight though he was ready for one, Ren can guess he wasn’t expecting a fight, but he was not going to back down even though he is going to die tonight.. With that thought in mind, Ren lunged and the short battle began.

~~~

Lord Ren was too busy with this fight to notice a tiny figure running away from their spot. His second in command however did not, Ion watched the battle off to the side when she noticed this. She tilted her head and followed the figure at a slower pace. When she caught up with the child, she noticed they were having trouble removing a grate from the entrance of a vent.

Ion stopped to observe them, they were pretty skinny, perhaps a bit more than the average weight a child should be, their hair was cut in an unruly manner and probably hacked off. Their clothing were basically rags, and they more than likely haven't showered in a long time. This child clearly lived on the street, just trying to survive but oh- their friend did not survive.

Ion was too deep analyzing the new data to notice the child had stopped pulling at the grate and was now grabbing slowly reaching for a metal rod. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The child did freeze but only for a split second, frightened by her suddenly speaking. Nonetheless that didn’t stop them, they quickly lunged for the rod and held it in front of them for protection.

With them now facing her, new information came to light, the child was a girl. Ion can see the fear in her eyes but also determination, she was now starting to like them. Ion smiled and slowly raised her arms to show she was not armed. The girl did not buy it and still held the rod, so Ion slowly raised her hands to remove her helmet. 

Each knight has their helmets, they are not meant to be removed in front of someone who isn’t a part of their group. If someone were to see their face, well they don’t usually survive to tell others their identity. When Ion finally removed her helmet, she knelt down on her knees and placed it on the floor. Now that she was the height of the girl, it is possible they will open up to her, the girl stared at her but did not relax at all. They are waiting for something to happen, this is what happens if you are raised in this type of life-style. Ion would not admit it but her heart did break a bit.

“My name is Ion Ren and yours?”

“Others call me; Chip and that’s all you're gonna get.” The girl or Chip said, Ion nodded, they were making progress though it was slow. She knew she didn’t have enough time, “Well Chip, what did he want?”

Chip stopped and scowled, “he wants to adopt me, what do you think he wants, he is going to kill me duh.” 

Ion smiled, “oh yes, I know but why though what did you do?.”

“Don’t act dumb, I saw you at MeKal’s bar, you are also looking for me. So what do you want from me?”

“Yes we are looking for you however not to kill you instead we offer a proposition. You have the Shadow or the Force, is how you killed those men correct?”

Chip stopped, her eyes widened in recognition, “so your Jedi or Sith then?”

Ion was surprised to hear that this girl knows about the Sith, yes there was Darth Vader however that knowledge isn’t well known. “ No, we are known as the Knights of Ren, we are neither Jedi or Sith. We do use the power of the dark side of the Force, we call it the Shadow. The Sith try to bend the Dark side to gain power and fall under its command but we only take what it can offer us and follow it.”

Chip was taking in all the information, “So because of what I did, I can be a part of your group?” she said as she lowered their makeshift weapon. 

“Well you killed a group of men with nothing but using the Force, why not take you in? Become a Knight of Ren, Chip. We could use someone like you. It won’t be easy, I cannot guarantee you will enjoy it but it is worth it if you do.” Even though this child did kill many others, it still wasn’t a personal death, Ren might not like it but she does have potential. 

Chip finally set down the metal rod and nodded, “my parents told me about the Jedi and Sith-” she cut herself off as if she realized what she was saying, “I got nothing more than your offer, either this or be killed by Gi-Gi.”

Ion smiled, and held out her hand, “it's a deal then, there is no backing out now.” Chip hesitantly took her hand and together the two of them walked back the way they came. Ren was sitting on a crate with the body of the Twi’lek at his feet, she felt Chip tightened her grip as she stared at the body. Ren noticed them “took you long enough.”

Ion placed her helmet back on, and started to introduce them, “Lord Ren, this is Chip- Chip this is Lord Ren, Leader of the Knights of Ren.” 

Ren turned his focus on the young child, “so you are what the fuss is all about.” Chip looked down while biting her lip, but nodded nonetheless. 

“How could a child do so much damage?”

Chip looked up ready to retort what Lord Ren said, but stopped herself, Ren got up from his seat and walked up right in front of her. Towering over her, trying to intimidate her, Ion moved away and took her place besides her leader. Leaving Chip on her own, the girl will need to stand up for herself, with no help whatsoever if they truly want to be a knight. 

“I- I had no other choice, I couldn’t stop-” again she stopped and took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Deck is gone and they were going to kill me next!” Chip looked like she wanted to cry but she wasn’t allowing herself to. As if she had no right to cry, Ren knelt down in front of her, “What did they make you do?”

Chip froze, “I can feel the guilt coming off of you, what did you do?” Ren got right in her face, his mask is very intimidating as it but having it right in your face was something else. Ion can recall when he did that to her and she broke and told him everything that happened. There was something about that mask that can just make you tell him everything. How she did not know, maybe it was his power, or it was the mask itself. As she can see Chip is trying to look away but she can’t, she was already snared by it.

“I couldn’t hold back and during it I enjoyed it!” Chip fell to her knees and started to cry, “We were a part of their gang but as messengers, Deck betrayed us, they wanted me to kill him-.” Chip paused to take a deep breath and get herself together. She wiped the tears away and once again looked up at Ren’s mask.

“He was my friend, they forced me to shoot him and he,” Chip pointed at the dead Twi’lek “made me shoot Deck.”

“I just remember him looking at me and nothing, when I came too he was dead and Olm was gone. Next thing I know they are grabbing at their chest and I don’t know how long I kept going. I just wanted them to feel my pain.” Ion nodded, she wasn’t too strong in the Shadow but if she was, she would have done the same to the gang members. 

Ren tilted his head, she could see he was gonna ask the girl to keep going but was cut off by their comm. links going off. Ion grabbed hers and it was a message from Pomare stating someone called in for reinforcement, some heading their way however with the city’s police is also enroute. 

“My lord, we must leave the enforcers are coming.” Ren stood and motioned for them to follow him, the three of them started to make their way out of the warehouse and head to the shipyard. “Why are the police involved, did someone tip them off?”

“Old Gi-Gi bribes the police, they basically work for him!”

“Oh well that’s just great, what is up with this place, is the rest of the government involved also?” They had to keep moving. This wasn’t the time to talk about politics, even though none of them care for such things at all.

It didn’t take long for them to hear the sirens, cursing under her breath, Ion pulled up the map she downloaded to find a fast way back to their ship.

“I know all the secret passages in the area that the Golden Eye don't even know about, let alone the police will know.

Lord Ren and Ion looked at each before agreeing on it and he motioned for the girl to lead them, together the three of them made their way through the narrow streets. There were citizens out and about, wondering why there are so many officers around but when they saw Chip, they moved out of the way. Their server from the night before gave Chip something bundled in a cloth as they ran through the shop, Chip quickly said thank you but didn’t stop. Chip held the bundle tightly to her chest, Ion wondered what was in the bundle or why it was given to her but that’s for another time.

It didn’t take long to see that the surrounding area looked familiar and soon they finally arrived at the shipyard, however they weren’t alone. There were many Golden Eye members, along with a very old and very fat man squaring off with Pomare, Zenaku and Ciar who had their weapons out ready to cover them if needed. The old man was shocked to see Chip with them, Ion grabbed the girl’s shoulder and was about to herd her up into the Night Buzzard, when he spoke. “Chip my dear girl, leaving already without saying bye?”

Chip didn’t turn to face him, but she did feel her tense up, “you have nothing to say? After all that I have done for you?”

With that Chip did turn around to face her former leader, “You didn’t do poodoo for me or for anyone! You made me kill Deck, you heartless bastard, you made this past two years a living hell, I’m glad I killed your members.”

Old Gi-Gi made a tsk sound, shaking his head in disappointment, “you had so much potential but you had to betray your family.”

Ion was getting tired of this, they already found their target and they need to leave or this was going to end badly for this town. Ren seems to think the same thing and made a motion with his hand, she knew the signal and quickly pulled Cip into the ship.

Ion took her up into the cockpit where Arne was watching the scene unfold, “Stay here with him, don’t touch anything, we’ll be back.” She knew their pilot would watch over the girl, so she returned back outside staying near the ramp. There was no reason for her to go over and help but she was ready if necessary.

“We aren’t afraid to fight you old man, call off your men and we leave.” Ren said as the Knights pulled out their weapons. He was trying to bait them, to get them to attack first and to show off really. She gritted her teeth, they don’t have time for this, but Ren is not gonna want to retreat, even with the threat of the police coming here. She turned her attention to Old Gi-Gi, he was tense but didn't seem angry or upset.

“She is our problem to deal with, this has nothing to do with you so be reasonable..”

Ren couldn’t help but laugh at that, “you said it yourself this girl has potential just you can’t use it for yourself.”

A ping came from her datapad caught her attention, pulling it out and she noticed police were coming closer. Someone must have called in for reinforcement, they can take them on but soon they would be overrun in no time.

“Arne, hover now! Ren and the others will join in a minute.” She didn’t hear an acknowledgement from the pilot but she knew he heard when the engines started to kick into each. It didn’t take long for their ship to start hovering just a few feet in the air. At this point, other ships started to come closer and shine their lights right at them. They need to get out of here quickly or it isn’t going to be pretty for this city. 

At this height and due to the cacophony of noise coming all around, it was hard to hear anything, Ion quickly grabbed her notified DC-15x sniper rifle and took position, Ion turned all her focused looking through her scope, she was locked onto Old Gi-Gi ready to take a shot if necessary. Just as she was about to give a warning shot when she noticed the gang leader stop in his tracks hold his chest. Ion felt the air shift around her and quickly turned to see Chip standing next to her with her arm stretch out. 

She had seen Lord Ren do this on many occasions, she had felt the air shift before but this was different. Chip didn’t look angry or upset instead she looked at peace as she slowly closed her outstretched hand into a fist. Ion turned back to the scene and saw blood coming out of Gi-Gi’s mouth, nose, eyes and ears, it was a pretty gruesome sight. Finally the old man collapsed into a bloody mess, it felt like a lifetime but it all happened in a span of a few seconds. 

No one moved or made a sound as their leader laid dead in their wake, Ion couldn’t believe that it just happened. She turned back to Chip and again saw how calm she is, this child just killed someone in cold blood. Chip turned to face her and just shrugged her shoulders, “it was taking too long, we might need to leave now if you don’t want to be shot by the police.”

Ion forgot that the police were already here and were aiming their weapons at them, “Damn it, Get on this ship right now -” However she was cut off when the first shots rang out, Ion quickly got back down and started to give support to her fellow knights. Lord Ren quickly brought out Ren, blocking the blaster bolts while the rest of the knights fired back. The ship veered sharp right, almost causing her to fall off the ship, to dodge a rocket that was launched right at them. She can’t do much here, Ion got up and quickly stashed away her rifle before going to help Arne protect their ship.

~~~

It was good to fight again, they haven’t had this much fun in a while, Snoke only sent them on stealth missions. Ren quickly runs forward to cut down their enemies, he knows his knights have itching for fun and so they are gonna get it. Pomare was right next to him, using his Gaffi staff (a very funny and long story of how he acquired it )to take out anyone that got too near him. Ren scoffed as he needed the help but he knew Ion had something to do with it, she was constantly worrying about his safety, not his fault he was stabbed that one time. 

Ren reached out to check on how everyone was fairing, he could feel Zenaku and Ciar to his far left while Ion and Arne were a bit farther away. All of them were safe, even their new little novice was safe with Ion and Arne. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered when the old fat man fell into his old blood. It was one of the most amazing things he has ever seen and felt. The Shadow twisted around him as Chip reached out and used the power it was offering her. She didn’t take more or less, she didn’t force it or beg for it, it was a balance that takes years to master. 

This one has so much potential, as of now he is the only one who can do what she did, the rest could have been like him but they weren’t trained like him. Perhaps Snoke will allow this one to be trained more in the Shadow then just train with weapons. He isn’t quite sure why Snoke does not allow the others to train like him but it isn’t his place to question that much. 

Ren was done cutting a lacky in half when he heard someone call out to him, it was Ciar who was holding his side. Probably grazed by a stray blaster shot, “my lord, Ion said more reinforcements are coming and the Night Buzzard can’t take more hits.”

Damn, their ship was not ready, it was being repaired and wasn’t fully operational from their last mission. They are gonna have to leave or they aren’t gonna have a ride soon and he doesn’t want to give up on the ship just yet. Ren quickly nodded and gave the signal to the other two to give cover while he helped Ciar get on the ship.

He was gonna have to throw the knight while the ship came around, Ciar quickly came to his side and was ready to be thrown. The ship was coming around with the ramp down, he is gonna have to be quick ‘cause its a very long fall down. Ren saw his opening and quickly gathered the strength of the Shadow and launched Ciar right on the ramp. With him safe, he turned back to the fire fight going on, now it was time for the others to get on board. 

Pomare was next, this was gonna have to be quick or they will be overrun soon, and Zenaku won’t be able to hold them back on his own. Ah just another day for them, it's a good day and this has been really fun. 

Zenaku was at his side, while he threw the others, they were going to jump together. But first a distraction! He nodded at the hooded knight and he brought out a thermal bomb, although it wasn’t a regular one, this one has been modified for a bigger bang. They won’t have much time for when it goes off so they would have to time it just right. 

Re noticed the Buzzard was coming in and this will have to be the final time, when Zenaku threw the bomb, the two of them quickly ran towards the edge of the platform and jumped.

Time seemed to have slowed down as they practically hovered in the air, the rush of the wind, the heat of the blast heating up their backs, gravity pulling them down to the ground. This is what he has been craving for a while, and he can feel the others feeling the same thing. 

With the roar of engines, time resumed its regular speed, the Night Buzzard was right underneath them and both landed right on top of the ship. Both rolled to a stop and quickly got their bearings and stood to watch their carnage as they flew away. The entire flight deck was in shambles, fire and debris everywhere and (probably) bodies littering the deck. Ren took pride in everything they destroyed, it was art, it was life.  Pure Chaos.

Mission Accomplished.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Knights of Ren have always been shrouded in mystery, why not take a look at how it used to be before the Kylo Ren became the leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, finally adding a new chapter to this story, this is a short chapter nothing too extreme or too elaborate. I don't own anything Star Wars, just my Ocs that I have here, anyways enjoy.

**Chapter 2**

Pomare yawned as they walked down the ramp of the Night Buzzard and into the hanger. The ride back here was a bit bumpy for his taste, they took a lot of damage back there at Tangenine. Arne was pissed that his ship took so much damage, he tried his best to fix what he could but he didn’t have most of the tools to fix it. 

Even went as far as to tell Ren to tell Snoke, they are not using the ship for a good while or there will be consequences. Takes a lot to get Arne all riled up, so Ren took it too hard when the guy threatened him. Pomare glanced over to the scarred man, who was speaking with their new recruit, probably telling her what we do. He seemed to be in a good mood as they all walked towards the rest area of their ‘home’. 

“Rest up everyone, I’m gonna take Chip to speak with Snoke, won’t take long when I return we’ll begin training.” Pomare noticed Chip sharply looked at Ren when he mentioned only he would return, not her as well. He could tell she was scared, a child in a new place with people hiding their faces and wearing black? Yeah, totally not scary at all. 

With that, Ren walked off with Chip, clutching her bundle close to her chest and turned back to look at them and Ion waved her off to show there is nothing to worry about. 

Pomare isn’t going to lie, he is pretty worried about the kid. Since he’s been here, he hasn’t seen anyone this young come and become a knight. Typically they are adults, ranging from their 20s to around mid-30s, not 10 year olds. Even some adults don’t survive the training and trials to make it to the end. How is this kid going to make it, they aren’t strong in the Shadow but what about their own physical and mental strength? The kid might not make it through training.

“Pomare, stop being a worry wart, the kid will be fine and if she isn’t then too bad.” Zenaku stated and he pushed Pomare. Pomare quickly turned to his fellow brother in arm and stood his ground. 

“Lay off will you, leave me be, how I feel doesn’t concern you at all.”

Zenaku smirked, “Aw seems like your “motherly” instincts have kicked in, gonna cry when this one dies like the last time?”

Pomare forced himself not to flinch, taking a deep breath to calm himself, he isn’t going to blame Zenaku for any of this. They haven’t properly slept and are tired because of this mission, they are starting to feel the effects of this. Not to mention Zenaku has a temper and is lashing out due to this, it isn’t the first time but at times Pomare really wants to beat the shit out of him. When they have rested, Zenaku will apologize and soon things will be back to normal but as of right now he isn’t to let those words get to him. 

“Say what you want Zen, you aren’t getting anything out of me, now if you will excuse me I wish to meditate.” Pomare stared at Zenaku, who closed his hands into fist, Pomare turned and left, leaving the others to do what they wished. 

“Good going Zen, you know how Pom ge-.” Pomare didn’t hear the rest of Ciar’s sentence as he left the rest area. He walked down the barren hallway towards his room, the only sound in the hall were his footsteps. The halls were so cold and barren, it was perfect for them and yet he can’t help but long for something other than this. When he reached his room, he removed his helmet and took a deep breath, it was different from everything outside it. 

Inside were his prized possessions, his garden, there were many different types of fauna from his travels around the galaxy. Each pot either lining the walls on the shelves or down on the floor, the artificial sun lamps creating a nice warm soothing light. It's been some time since he last checked up on them but thankfully each seems to be thriving, hardly the lot of them are. 

He quickly changed into something comfortable and fell into his usual routine of checking each one if they needed water or a trim. This was his style of his meditation, sure he could sit on the floor of his room and meditate with his plants around him. However, he prefers walking around and losing himself in tending his plants, just ignoring the world outside his door for a few hours. It's only when they do a group meditate will he sit and meditate, the same could be said with the others. 

Each has their own style, Zenaku will spar, Arne can meditate while working on machines or the Buzzard. Ciar will either go for a run or read, Ion does yoga and to be honest he has no idea about Ren though. He was proud of his garden, it took some time but he got it the way he wants it. 

It's a shame really that the planet isn’t suitable for the fauna he has, it was too cold and the ground is mostly permafrost. The planet does have plants and trees but they too look barren and lifeless, he prefers the more tropical ones. 

‘Should have checked if Tangenine had something to add to my collection’ Pomare train of thought was cut short due to the persistent knocks on his door. He called out to whoever was outside to come in, not stopping his work, the door opened and Ciar walked in with a few datapads in hand. 

Ah, this usually happens when he can’t find a quiet place to read or work, Ciar would come and sit and enjoy the peace inside the room. “Don’t tell me Ion and Zenaku are fighting again?”

Ciar snorted as he sat down on a seat cushion in Pomare’s sitting area, “Try adding Ren to the mix, he came back a while ago and joined in on the fray like he always does, the man doesn’t know how to stay out of things.’

“He doesn’t like to be left out of things, you know this, and you know he won’t miss an opportunity to fight against either of them.”

Ciar started to laugh, “oh yeah, Ion said she wasn’t gonna spar with him for a good two months due to the incident on Kuat remember?

Ah yes, the Kuat incident, the mission wasn’t a perfect success, Ren almost killed himself and was incapacited for a good while. Ion didn’t allow him to spar as he recovered and swore she would not fight him until she deemed it. Ren wasn’t pleased when his best sparring partner was not going to fight him and thus has done everything he could to piss off Ion to get her to fight. 

The two of them have a strange companionship really, he isn’t sure if he will understand it either way it's working for them and gets the job done. “Well, you are welcome to stay for a long until we have to go train.” Ciar nodded his thanks and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence, the only sound coming from Pomare as he trims his plants. 

“Hey uh Pom, you know not to take Zen’s words too seriously right?”

Pomare didn’t stop his work, “I know Ciar, this isn’t the first time nor will it be the last, he’ll apologize to me later on when he calms down.” 

Ciar nodded and went back to his reading, Pomare knows Ciar means well but this doesn’t concern him. 

“Are you worried for the girl? You don’t even know her that well to be worried.”

“I am, maybe it is because she is young, I know Ren was young when he joined but still no child should go through any of this.”

“I guess you're right but the same thing isn’t going to happen again though, you can’t let it get to you.”

Pomare hates to think of the last time, he was already punished by Snoke because of what happened. He doesn’t need others to keep reminding him of his moment of weakness. He swore he would not let it happen again but his feelings tend to get away from him at times. 

“Don’t make me kick you out Ciar.”

Ciar didn’t say anything else, taking the hint to be quiet and continue on his reading lest he wants to anger Pomare more. Pomare was grateful and continued his work and meditation, he would like to have some quiet time before they are needed again by Ren.

~~~

Arne snarled as he pulled another damage panel from his ship. At this rate he is going to need to buy more parts and supplies. The ship took on too much damage from these past two missions, which isn’t new, he told Ren that it wasn’t ready but no. Snoke just had to send them on this mission and it went to Pit real quick. 

‘Stupid mission, stupid girl, why did she had to make things difficult for them.’ Don’t get him wrong, he loves to fight just like the rest of the knights, but when it comes to his ship then that is where he draws the line. 

As he grabbed another panel, he didn’t notice a loose wire until he felt the shock, Arne cursed as he held his hand close to his chest and stood up. Arnre can feel his anger rising but he wasn’t going to let it get the best of him, he takes a deep breath to calm himself down. 

Ren always told him to use his anger when it is needed the most, sure they use their anger and whatnot to feel the Shadow but not during a time like this. There are times where Arne doesn’t understand any of this mumbo jumbo at times, for kark sake, he was a scientist. He turns back to his ship and decides to continue working on it another time. 

“Seems like Ren didn’t listen to you huh?”

Arne didn’t stop collecting his tools to face Ion, she usually comes to check up on him from time to time after missions. “No, he did not, I told him we can’t withstand anymore attacks and then that girl just had to go and do that? I mean seriously this girl better be worth it, I know you put your faith in her but are you sure it was the right call?”

Ion didn’t say anything for a while, Arne turned to look to be sure she was still there and hadn’t left because of his comment. She was standing there with her hands behind her back, just looking out into space, Arne stood and watched her. He knows she is in deep thought, maybe she was rethinking the decision. Wouldn’t be the first time the other knight regretted a decision, hopefully this time won’t happen like the last time. He winced internally, Pomare didn’t deserve that really, Ion should have taken the punishment. 

“I do not have the foresight which Snoke and Lord Ren have but I do believe in this, but how can you be so blind?”

Ok, he knew what was coming, Ion turned to face him and walked up to him, Arne didn’t take a step back. He wasn’t afraid, he looked up at her considering she was slightly taller than him and she will use it to her advantage sometimes. 

“Me, blind? Blind about what? I am seeing things pretty clear.” 

Ion shook her head, “I meant about what happened, the girl can use the Shadow just like Ren, meaning she can already use it and Snoke will have to train her. There are times where I wish to be trained to use the Shadow but my path did not lead me to it and so I am a knight.

But isn’t Lord Ren considered a Knight as well since they were apparently following the lightsaber? Arne was confused when it finally clicked to him that they were following a flashing sword, Arne internally groaned. This is not what he signed up for but he’s here now, it didn't take a lot for him to join, he was bored and decided to have some fun at least.

Nonetheless, she does have a point, Lord Ren is the only one who can wield the lightsaber and can do a lot more with the Shadow unlike them. They were only trained in discipline, to follow orders and to protect Lord Ren or Snoke if need be. 

“So the girl is strong and that means something?”

Ion didn’t answer, only shook her head, “if you cannot see it then you are truly blind, and I pity you.”

Arne sighed, he really wanted to face-palm himself, there are times where he likes Ion. She is strong and very stern, also very smart, able to calculate many different strategies right on the spot. However when she gets all mystic and whimsical she can be very annoying. Just because her parents ‘used’ to be so called Guardians of the Whills, they didn’t believe this, doesn’t mean she is considered one. Thankfully she is only like this when she has an epiphany of some sort, and is usually back to normal after a while. 

“Right, why don’t you bring this up with Snoke or Ren, I may be blind but he might not be.” Arne said with sarcasm hoping to get her to leave. He prefers the quiet version of Ion and this one, he’ll leave it to Ren to deal with her.

“Very funny, Arne, no need to use sarcasm during a time like this. We should celebrate and I’ll put in a word for Ren to give more fundings for the Night Buzzard.”

He knows that is a lie, she always promises or gives her word since she is the second in command (rather she self appointed herself) but she never does. He used to believe her and would wait for the funds but they would never come. He gave up on waiting and all he does now is nod and thank her, there is no reason to bring this up with others and just work on the Night Buzzard. 

“Thanks, well I’m done for today, I got nothing done but I’m tired. Since you said we should celebrate, why not open some beers.” 

Ion nodded, “yes we should, I hope Zenaku won’t be mad if we go through his stash?”

Now that is a very good idea! Zenaku usually buys (steals) very expensive alcoholic drinks from any planet they visit. The big guy has very expensive taste for someone so savage like him, this guy must have some background in the finer ways of life. 

“Lady, you read my mind, now where do you think he hid his stash this time?” Zen made it his mission to hide his stash because they would always get into the bottles. Laying down traps and whatnot to ensure the safety of the beer and wines, the last time Zen hid with his stash, he attacked Ren when he found the stash. 

“Also we should make a plan on how to proceed with this, the big guy is here so we got to find a way to-

“By following the Shadow, of course, it will lead us to what we desire. Also don’t worry Ren took care of Zen when you left, you could say it was a total knockout.”

Arne didn’t give a poodoo about the Shadow or Force, so long as he gets his beer in the end then he is fine with whatever. Ion led the way out of the hanger and together went off to go find the secret stash of their friend. 

Ion took them deep into the temple, as they passed the lounge, Arne couldn’t help but laugh at Zenaku who was laid on the floor in an awkward angle. Lord Ren did not hold back this time, he didn’t have to worry about the knight, he’ll wake up and join them later on.

“There goes our training huh?”

“Even Lord Ren didn’t want to train, he just said that to sound like a proper leader, we are all tired and like I said. We deserve a break, so this is why he knocked out Zen, so let's continue shall we?”

“So you’re telling me, this was planned and Lord Ren is already at the stash, man that is not fair. I already narrowed it down to three places, now the two of you ruined it.”

Ion rolled her eyes, “it would have taken longer and Lord Ren would have already finished half by the time we get there. What would you have prefered?”

Arne stayed quiet, she was right though, Ren would have already finished off the good ones and leave the rest for them. Arne sent a quick message to Pomare and Ciar to come and join them, they weren’t going to train but they were going to have a ‘bonding’ moment. 

Ion opened a door to a utility closet and there was Lord Ren sitting on the floor already drinking straight out of a bottle. 

“Welcome to our new lounge!” Ren said as he took another big swig from the bottle, Ion shook his head and sat down beside him, choosing a bottle from the crate. 

Arne smirked and grabbed his own, “so we are staying here in this closet and enjoying ourselves?”

“Please, this isn’t the worst place we drank at, and that is saying a lot!”

Oh kark, Ren is already tipsy, usually when he is tipsy things start to become interesting, it didn’t take long for Pomare and Ciar to arrive. The two of them stared at them like they were crazy but shrugged and joined in. Pomare brought some fruit from his garden and shared with the rest of them, Ion quickly took her pick and shared with Ren. Ciar quickly started talking about a new story to him and he decided to listen to his friend. 

Finally, the closet door opened again and the rest of them fell silent, Zenaku was standing there just staring down at them. Arne could tell the guy was still groggy from his ‘forced’ nap, he blinked and sat down next to Pomare and leaned against him. Pomare smirked and passed a bottle, the rest going back to drinking, clearly Pom forgave Zen and the big guy is not mad at them for drinking his beer.

“Tell us Lord Ren, did Snoke decide to train the girl?”

“Oh right, yeah Snoke agreed to train her so if the little one passes then she will become a knight, also Snoke said the other two are almost done with their training.” 

Arne jerked back in surprise, wow that is surprising, so the two that went in, both came out alive. That’s a good thing, usually one comes out alive or none at all, he recalls when he had to go through the training. It was something he does not want to go through again, he did join the group along with Ciar, and Zenaku almost killed him on the same day. 

“I am glad to hear about this,” yeah you would be pleased to hear about it, “and when will the others join?” 

“Maybe in a few months depending on their final trial.”

“Not bad it took them three years to complete their training,” said Zenaku who was finishing up his third bottle. Getting praise from Zen is a big thing, and he is right though, there is no time limit to their training. Snoke controls their training and will deem if they are ready for the final trial. However even when they are finally knighted, they still train with Lord Ren to become a strong group to form a strong bond between all of them. 

Or so Snoke and Lord Ren claim, he really can’t say it works at times since we try to kill each other when the opportunity arises. 

“Yes more members, we are in dire need of more, I’m already sick and tired of seeing your faces.”

“We wear mask the majority of the time, you dumb fuck.” 

“I could go for a new mask, already sick of this one.”

“What and squander Albrekh's work, he is going to be pissed when he finds out you want a new one.”

“Who uses the word squander anymore?”

“I will pay credits to see Albrekh beat up Ciar.”

During times like this, Arne seriously rethinks his life choices of how he got here, but it's too late to do anything about it. “I got two hundred credits, sign me up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like the Knights of Ren, just wished we could see more of them on screen so I'm doing this. Remember this is before the comics and the three movies, a prequel to them. Either way thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy it and I'll post again soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Knights of Ren have always been shrouded in mystery, why not take a look at how it used to be before the Kylo Ren became the leader.

**Chapter 3**

Zenaku groaned as he walked out of the Night Buzzard, he was not going to like this mission at all. Their mission was taking place on a hot desert planet. It was a barren wasteland, with no sign of life for the eye can see. The ship powered down and Arne walked off the ship a short while later, who also groaned as he finally got a good look at the planet. 

“Oh this is going to be just great, remind me to punch Lord Ren when we see him again.” Arne said as he walked up to Zenaku. 

“Not unless I get to him first, but he’s gonna get more than just a punch.” 

The two of them stood in the Buzzard’s shadow, neither of them wanted to step out into the sun. Sure their robes and helmet keep them cool and protect them from the heat, but the very thought of going out there was making them stay in place. Zenaku was not a fan of heat, he was born on Lothal then moved to Corellia to work there before being recruited. The first time he went to a desert planet, it didn’t end well, he almost died due to the heat. 

“We have enough water right?” Zenaku said as he checked his pack, inside the pack there were three bottles, he didn't want a repeat of his last mission. 

Ane nodded, “we better get moving and get this over with, also we need to stay away from the locals. They are wary of outsiders and hire mercenaries to protect their crops or something.”

Zenaku grimaced underneath his mask but nodded, together the two of them walked away from the shade and into the desert. Arne was reading something from his datapad and he kept watched for anything that can attack them. If what Arne said was true, then there will be mercenaries hiding and waiting to ambush them.

“What are we searching for anyways, this better be worth it in the end, I already got sand in my boots.”

“Lord Ren didn’t specify what it is, only that it’s of “great importance” and Lord Snoke wants it. They only gave me this frequency that will supposedly lead us to it but so far I’m not getting a lot.”

So they were sent to a hot desert planet with basically no information on what to look for, this is going to be a fun mission. Zenaku stayed quiet and allowed Arne to work with the frequency so they could get out of here quicker. 

It was about two hours into their hike when they stopped near a rock wall and stayed in the shade, he sat down as Arne looked around confusingly as if he was lost. Well, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were lost. The other knight looked one way, then down at the pad, then looked up to stare at the opposite direction. He can clearly imagine Arne’s face underneath the mask, couldn’t help but laugh at his confusion.

“This does not make sense, it says we are close but there is nothing here, how is this even possible?”Arne was getting mad, as he paced while waving the datapad around in the air. 

“Maybe it's underground?” Zenaku said jokingly, Arne turned around to face him with his hands on his hips. 

“This isn’t the time to joke around Zen, we got to find this so we can get the hell out of here.”

Zenaku rolled his eyes, and turned away from him, he stared out into the desert and saw something off in the distance. Quickly he pulled out his binoculars from his pack and looked at the speck that was off in the distance. When they focused, he noticed it was a group of people walking through the desert, it was probably the inhabitants that live here. 

They seem to be heading this way, although they were ways off and the two of them will be gone by the time they get here. However there was something in the air now, as if something shifted and everything feels off now. He knows he should trust his instincts or as Lord Ren claims, trust in the Shadow, and it usually is right. 

He turned to Arne who was still grumbling, clearly the other man was not checking his surroundings. Everything was fine with him but now it feels like something or someone is watching them. Zenaku slowly lowered his hand to the hand of his axe, something was coming.

“Hey Zen maybe we should go back to the-” Arne didn’t finish his sentence.

When he heard Arne fall silent, Zenaku quickly turned and pulled out his axe but as he did, the sound of a blaster cocked right by his head. He froze, a group of armed mercs seemed to materialize out of nowhere, one of them had Arne in a choke hold. He gritted his teeth, he did not feel or see them sneak up, he released his weapon and raised his hands up. 

Zenaku did not want to surrender but with Arne in danger, he didn’t want to risk it. He needed the other knight to find the mystery object. He can’t return empty handed, he doesn’t want to get in trouble with Lord Snoke or Ren. 

One of the mercenaries came up and kicked him in the back of the knees, as he crumpled to his knees, someone quickly placed cuffs on him. They did the same with Arne and quickly searched them, taking away their packs, weapons and anything else they had on them. The last thing they did was remove their helmets, Zenaku fought as they tried to but they subdued him. 

“Well what do we have here, we don’t usually get black clothed freaks around here.”

Zenaku bared his teeth, and Arne tensed up even further but neither of them said anything. A rule of being a Knight of Ren, is to keep quiet and give nothing up. You would rather die than tell anyone anything about their Order. A man came to stand in front of them, clearly he was the leader.

“Not talking are we? Don’t worry I’ll make you talk but it's going to be painful, so why don’t you tell us why you are here to save you from the pain.”

Neither of them are afraid of pain, all of them have suffered toruture to strengthen them, Lord Snoke used this so they would not break. So whatever this group is going to do to them, is nothing compared to what their leader has done to them while in training. 

“Seems like we have our answers, alright, bag them, let's head back to camp.” Before either of them went into action, sacks were placed over their heads and were dragged away. Zenaku knew they could not get out of this right now, there were too many of them, for them to get out safely. 

So Zenaku took the time to go into a light trance, trying to get his bearings together, also to try to memorize their route in case they need an escape. They have been walking before the sound of speeders being turned out. That was not a good sign, he thought their makeshift camp was within walking distance but now that doesn’t seem like the case. 

Someone grabbed him and basically drapped him across the speeder, and more than likely they did the same thing with Arne. This was embarrassing, when it was time to escape, he was going to get his revenge. 

The ride was relatively bumpy but nothing too bad, finally they stopped and were pulled off the speeder not so gently. He heard Arne grunt in pain and they were dropped on the sand floor, the sacks were pulled off their heads but the cuffs stayed. 

The sun was about to set and brought in a nice cool breeze, the sack was stuffy and made him sweat a bit. Zenaku glanced around the camp and noticed some tents and a big bonfire in the middle, there were at least twenty or so people watching them. All of them were armed to the teeth, not all of them were humans, there were some Twi'leks and Rodians.

He had to wonder how it was possible for the inhabitants of this planet to pay for so many mercenaries and to keep them for so long. Clearly they have been here for a while, what could the inhabitants have in order to pay so many? The leader that spoke with them before came up over to them and spread out his arms. 

“Welcome to our camp, we hope you enjoy your stay, we’ll make sure you are very comfortable.” All of them laughed, clearly they were waiting for their leader’s signal to do something to them. Zenaku can sense their blood lust coming off of them and it was starting to affect him as well. He doesn’t know if it will affect Arne but we’ll need to take things slow for now. 

“Thanks I’ll take an alcoholic drink, and I want my room to have a view of the beautiful sunrise.”

Zenaku couldn’t help but smirk at Arne’s request, during times like this, Arne always jokes around. Because of this, it usually gets them in trouble but there are times in which what he says is funny. If Ion were here, she would have found a way to smack him to keep him quiet but she isn't here and he isn’t going to keep him quiet. 

“So we got a jokester, we are going to have some fun with these two. Now take them to my tent, I need to ask them some questions.”

“Wait so I’m not getting my sunrise?”

Zenaku heard a thud, and it was more than likely someone punched Arne to make him shut up, well that isn’t going to stop him. One of the mercs pulled him up to his legs and was pushed to start moving, while two others grabbed Arne from his underarms and dragged him. Arne flashed a bloody smile and Zenaku shook his head, the leader was right. 

This was going to be fun.

The inside of the tent was simple, usually leaders have elaborate trinkets and whatnots around them but not this one. Interesting really, the two of them were once again forced on their knees, the leader sat down in front of them, pouring a glass of water for himself. 

Great, Zenaku felt parched now, it's been a while since they last had a drink, more than likely this guy knows and will use it against them. The guy even had the balls to drink the entire cup of water with really loud gulps to irk them. 

Arne chibed again, “you know I’m still waiting for my drink, you did say you would make us comfortable and I got punched so this is already starting bad.”

The leader smiled, “you really have a smart mouth, maybe you could put it to good use and tell us why you are here.”

“We’re here to enjoy the scenery, we needed something different and ended up here.” Zenaku said, Arne turned in surprise. Zenaku usually stayed silent and so he was labeled the strong silent type. However he isn’t going to pass up this opportunity to mess with this one, it was gonna get them in even deeper trouble but now this trip is worth it.

“Why do you insist on making things difficult? Why not tell me the truth and depending on what you tell me, you can go free.”

“We are tourists! How is it so hard to believe that we have come to see this spore that spread across the land? We heard it was a sight to behold so that is why we are here.”

The leader shook his head, “we had a lot of ‘tourists’ come by here before and cause trouble so forgive us for being wary of you two.”

Zenaku nodded, “That's understandable, we were promised good service once and in the end we didn’t get it, so we are wary too.”

Arne howled with laughter, nearly losing his balance if he didn’t lean forward to curl into himself. The leader sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “I should have seen that one coming.”

Just as he was going to say something, another merc walked in, “Flynn, one of the chiefs wants to speak with you.”

Flynn, well now we know his name, stood up “I’ll speak with them later. Right now I have to deal with these two before we can start moving.” 

The Rodian looked down at them with interest, Zenaku also studied him and felt like he had seen this Rodian before. He can’t place his finger on it, but there was something familiar about him, the Rodian nodded and left without a word. 

“As you can see gentlemen, we are on a tight schedule, so please tell me the real reason why you are here. I’m going to guess that your trip has to do something with this datapad.” He said as he pulled out Arne’s pad from their pack. “I noticed the signal getting weaker as we left the spot where we found you, so you were close to finding whatever this leads.” 

“I know, instead of us finding it and leaving this planet right away, we are here with you and wasting both our times apparently.” Arne said with a scowl shaking his head, “we got our mission and trust us when we say it has nothing to do with the spore or the people. Let us go, and we will stay away from the people and you mercs, and will cause no trouble.”

Flynn stayed silent but Zenaku could tell that he did not believe what Arne just said, it was going to be hard to convince this guy. They could fight their way out of this but right now he wants to make that their last decision. 

“What is it that you are looking for?”

Zenaku spoke up this time, “nothing that concerns you.”

Flynn nodded, “so who are you anyways? Never seen you types of mercs before.” 

Now that got him thinking, they weren’t mercenaries but the missions they do, does consider them mercenaries. However they weren’t paid, all they do is cause mayhem and steal anything valuable to pay for their expenses. 

“Again it doesn’t concern you.”

“Fine, I can respect the secrecy, we are the same way however I know a lot of groups and I’ve never seen you lot before.”

Arne and Zenaku stayed silent, there was nothing more to say, Flynn tried to get them to talk a bit more but they remained silent. Flynn finally gave up, “alright since you don’t want to talk anymore, we’ll do it the hard way.”

Flynn called out for his mercs and ordered them to tie them up outside at the post. “See, you still get your sunrise.”

“I’m still waiting for my alcohol!” Arne yelled as they dragged him out of the tent.

They tied them up at a post a ways off from the camp, their backs were to the post and they even tied up their legs so they wouldn’t run. The four mercs left and Zenaku let his head fall back on the post with a satisfying thud, “this is just great, Lord Ren would laugh at us if he saw us now.”

“Nah he would be tied up with us.”

“We need water soon or we ain’t gonna make it far.”

“I’m gonna rate them one star.”

Zenaku huffed a laugh, “what is with you and ratings?” 

“Says the guy that steals very expensive bottles of wine and beer, how do you know so much about that anyway?” Arne said as he started to test the strength of the cuffs, if the cuffs were standard issue, then it is possible to get out of them soon. 

“I have high standards, not like Lord Ren who would drink almost anything.”

Arne laughed, and the two of them fell silent, Zenaku watched the camp for a bit, watching as the members walked around and went into their tents. All of them seem to be comfortable around each other and trust one another. Which is not odd but mercenaries tend to not trust each other and will backstab to gain more credits. Clearly they’ve been here for a while, living together and getting to know one another so they are tight knitted. This is something he hasn’t encountered before with mercenaries or bounty hunters, and he’s dealt with them before. 

“So what do you make of them?”

“So far, this Flynn guy is not a tough guy, he’s trying to be but it's all an act. Not sure about the rest of them.”

“Good, I wasn’t in the mood to be tortured, already had my fill.”

“Get some rest, tomorrow we are going to get out of here.”

“Mayhem?” Zenaku could hear the smile from the other knight, that he couldn’t help but smile as well.

“Mayhem.”

~~~

Arne groaned in pain as someone flashed a light in his eyes, he thought it was Ciar messing with him again but then everything came back to him. ‘Right, they were captured and tied to a post outside, my mouth hurts right now.’ 

He rapidly blinked to get the sand out of his eyes and to adjust to the sunlight coming from the horizan. ‘Huh, I did get my sunrise, things are looking bright.’ Arne popped his neck to get the kinks out and bring back circulation back into his arms. 

Zenaku was still asleep and snoring up a storm, he was glad that he was a heavy sleeper, or he would be in a bad mood right now. There was movement in the camp, meaning the members were waking up and also the fun will begin. 

However Arne felt tense in the air, he tried to focus and notice it was coming from the camp. He could see some commotion going on but couldn’t tell what was really going on. He could see a lot of commotion, more than likely they are ready to move out. Meaning they will be farther away from whatever they were looking for and that was not good. They need to get out of here before that happens, he was glad these cuffs were standards. These are easy to get out from, all they need now is to find an opening. 

“-kill them Flynn, they don’t need to live.”

Oh, something is happening.

“Koa stop, there is no need for mor-”

Arne felt Zenaku tensed up, ah so he’s finally awake, “hey sleeping beauty seems like our time is short, ha this is going to be great.”

Zenaku didn’t say anything, which isn’t new, nonetheless it was time to get out of here. Arne grabbed one of his thumbs, he hates doing this but it is a fast way to get out. He took a deep breath and braced himself for the pain, as he breathed out he quickly pulled on his thumb and heard a loud pop. He grunted in pain but it was short lived, he slowly slipped out his hand out of the cuff and rubbed his wrist to be sure they weren’t chaffed. 

“Ok, I’m free, here’s the plan; once I free you, I need you to cause a distraction while I get our stuff and we book it. Sounds like a plan?”

Arne was met with silence, Arne turned around to find Zen still staring at the camp. Zenaku didn’t hear a word he just said, “hey big guy, did you hear me? We gotta get out of here.”

“Shut up.”

Arne recoiled from Zenaku’s tone, he was about to say something back when Zenaku tensed up even further as a group of five mercs came their way. Arne cursed and quickly hid his hands so they wouldn’t know he had escaped. 

‘This is just great, we could have been out of here by now.’

He noticed Flynn speed walking alongside someone, trying to stop them from coming further but the guy just pushed Flynn away. 

Zenaku was right; Flynn is the leader but the guy is a push over, Arne took a good look at the other guy and now this one looks like a real mercenary. Arne watched as the newcomer’s eyes widened in recognition and smiled. It wasn’t a good smile real and he was not comfortable with that. 

“Arne -whatever happens stay out of it.”

“What, Zen what do you-”

Arne didn’t finish his sentence as he watched the newcomer walk straight in front of Zen and punched him with so much force, it rocked the post they were tied on. Both he and Flynn protested the violence as the guy kept punching Zenaku. 

“Koa that is enough, I gave you an order.”

“No, you stay out of this Flynn none of this concerns you.”

Arne gritted his teeth, he wanted to help out Zen but Zen warned him from joining in. Well when has he ever followed orders. Arne moved quickly, grabbing Flynn, holding him in a headlock and pointing the guy’s blaster at his head. Koa stopped and the others pointed their weapons at him, Arne smirked. He has them right where he wants them.

“It may not involve Flynn but it does involve me, now release Zenaku and we’ll be on our way. Don’t cooperate, well let’s just say I’m very trigger happy. 

Koa started to laugh, as if all of this was a big joke, well it was but Arne wasn’t in the mood to laugh right now. “Zenaku? That is your name now, how in kriffing hell did you come up with a name like that.”

Zenaku sighed, and turned to face Arne, “why don’t you do as you're told?”

“When do I ever do as I’m told.” Arne smirked and tightened his grip on his hostage, Koa growled and pointed a blaster at Zenaku’s face.

“You got some new friends Kai? Should I be jealous?” Zenaku snarled and began to thrash around, Arne was pretty surprised to hear Zen’s real name. None of the knights know each other’s names, no one shares their old names, it's an unspoken rule. They leave all of that in the past where it belongs and gain new identities from Lord Snoke.

“Koa, stop it, I don’t want any more bloodshed,” Flynn said to Koa and turned his attention back to Arne, “and the two of you can go.”

Koa shook his head, “this one isn’t leaving, I got a score to settle with this one.”

“Settle this Zenaku, I’m leaving without you, we got a mission to complete.” Arne said to Zenaku.

“I’m working on it.”

Arne nodded and started to walk backwards to the camp, Zenaku can handle himself, he needs to get moving. Flynn went willinging, Koa laughed again and said something to Zenaku but Arne didn’t hear what was said. 

The camp was silent, the rest of the mercs were watching him with their weapons ready. One of them took a step forward and Arne squeezed the trigger, the blast hit the sandy floor, Flynn cursed and ordered the others not to come closer.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you were trigger happy.” Flynn joked but Arne didn’t reply back, he had to focus back on their mission. They wasted enough time on this, they should never have been caught in the first place.

“Do you know the history with those two?”

Arne found his datapad, the packs, helmets and weapons, he quickly cuffed Flynn and kept the blaster on him. “No I don’t, we keep to ourselves, we don’t talk about our past.” He said as he made sure everything was in the pack and took a big gulp of water. Flynn looked confused, “really? The two of you have a good friendship, I thought you know everything about each other.”

Arne rolled his eyes, and cursed when he noticed his com link blinking, that was not good. They were supposed to report last night, Lord Ren is not going to be pleased. 

He quickly answered the new call coming in, “Arne speaking, forgive me for the last reply, my lord.”

_ ::Arne, what happened? You were supposed to report in, did you find the artifact?:: _

“No, we ran into some problems but we are dealing with it as we speak.” Arne noticed shadows moving outside the tent, more than likely the mercs are circling the tent to block his escape. He heard Lord Ren sigh,  _ ::get it done Arne, and deal with anyone that gets in your way, Lord Ren out.:: _

“At your command, Arne out.” Arne terminated the call and fired at one of the shadows outside the tent. The figure went down with a cry, he smirked at that and fired another one as a warning.

Flynn started to struggle, “no stop! Please don’t hurt anyone, you can leave.”

“They need to get out of my way! I am allowed to deal with anyone that gets in my way, so tell them to back off.”

Flynn stared at him and nodded, he called out to the rest to back off, it took awhile for the figures to retreat back. Arne quickly grabbed everything that was there before pulling Flynn out of the tent, there was no one outside. More than likely in their tents waiting, he took a chance to look for Zenaku but couldn’t see anything from his location. 

The two of them went over to the speeders, none of them are tampered with so that is a good sign. He quickly packed his gear and Zenaku’s on another. 

“Are you really going to leave him behind.”

“Zenaku can take care of himself, and we are trained to complete the mission no matter what, with or without him.”

Flynn shook his head, “that is no way to treat a team member, why don’t you help him?”

“He can handle this on his own, he doesn’t need my help, also this has to do with his past so it’s his problem.”

Before he could say anything back, shooting and blaster shots rang out, Zenaku was loose and causing mayhem. He wished he was a part of it but there wasn’t enough time, Flynn started to cry out about them promising not to hurt anyone. It was starting to piss him off, he growled and brought the butt of the blaster to Flynn’s temple. Flynn cried out but it didn’t knock him out, good; he didn’t want him unconscious. Arne dragged Flynn on the speeder and drove off West towards the signal.

**End of Chapter 3**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thank for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! You made it to the end of the chapter, for now this is just a story about a group before Kylo's group. Let me know what you think about this, I'm trying my best on this so thank you. Please be patience with me, again thank you for reading and share your thoughts.  
> (I know its canon that the lightsaber is called Ren but i'm going to call it Ren sometimes but not always among other things.)


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